SECOND     EDITION 


A  SERMON, 

PREACHED  IN 

CHRIST  CHURCH,  SAVANNAH, 

On  Sunday,  July  28th,  1861, 


RT.  REV.  STEPHEN  ELLIOTT,  D.  D., 

IIECTOK  OF  CHBIST  CHUKCH. 


SEOOIsTID  BIDITIOIT. 


iod's  §m^mt  mi]\  our  ^rmg  at  ^anassaji ! 

A  SERMON, 

PREACHED  IX 

CHRIST  CHURCH,  SAVANNAH, 

On  Sunday,  July  28th, 

BKING  THE  PAY  RECOMMENDED  BY  THE 
TO  BE  OBSERVED  AS 

A  DAY  OF  THANKSGIVING, 

IX  COMMEMORATION  OF  THE 

YIGTOftY  AT  MANASSAS  JUNCTION, 

0n  Siind^U,  the  Sl^i  of  lulij,  )8ei. 


RT.  REV.  STEPHEN  ELLIOTT,  D.  D. 

RECTOR  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH. 


And  Jotepb  called  the  name  of  the  first  born  Manasseh:  For  God,  said  he,  hath  made 
me  forget  all  my  toil,  and  all  my  Father's  house.-^Gsx.  xli.  51. 


SAVANNAH. 

W.   THORNE   WILLIAMS. 


1861. 


-'?7  3>7  9"- 


■io  iltc  (ItciinB  of  \\\t  Biowse  of  ^^cor^m. 


The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States,  on  the  day  after  the  signal  vie 
tory  at  Manassas  Junction,  adopted  the  following  resolution : 

Resolved,  Tliat  we  recognise  the  hand  of  the  Most  High  God,  the  King 
of  Kings,  and  Lord  of  Lords,  in  the  glorious  victory  with  which  He  has 
crowned  our  armies  at  Manassas  ;  and  that  the  people  of  these  Confede- 
rate States  are  invited,  by  appropriate  services  on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  to 
offer  up  their  united  thanksgiving  and  praise  for  this  mighty  deliverance. 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Stephen  Elliott,  Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  in  the  Diocese  of  Georgia,  sympathizing  fully  with  this  resolu- 
tion of  the  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States,  and  feeling,  even  amid  the 
sorrow  which  weighs  down  our  State,  because  of  the  many  gallant  sons 
whom  she  has  been  called  upon  to  offer  up  as  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of 
their  country,  that  we  should  ''rejoice  evermore  and  in  every  thing  give 
thanks,"  do  direct  the  Clergy  of  said  Diocese  to  use  on  Sunday,  the  28th 
July,  the  following  service  of  Thanksgiving  and  Praise,  in  place  of  the 
regular  service  of  the  day  : 

SERVICE.  J 

Open  with  the  following  sentences  : 

Deut.  33:27.     Psalm  115  :   12,13.     Psalm  107:21. 

Instead  of  the  '' Venite  Exultemus  "  say  or  sing  the  "  Psalm  of  Praise 
and  Thanksgiving  after  Victory,"  to  be  found  in  the  "  Forms  of  prayer  to 
be  used  at  sea,"  beginning  ''If  the  Lord  had  not  been  on  our  side,"  &c. 

Psalter  for  the  day— Psalm  68. 

1  Lesson,  2  Samuel,  ch.  22  to  v.  37. 

THE    TE    DEUM. 

2  Lesson  1  Thessalonians  ch.  v.  to  v.  19. 

Add  to  the  Prayers  for  the  day,  the  Collect  to  be  found  in  the  "  Forms 
of  Prayer  to  be  used  at  Sea,"  beginning:  "Oh  Almighty  God,  the  Com- 
mander of  all  the  World,"  &c.,  and  the  following 

PRAYER. 

0  merciful  God  and  Heavenly  Father,  who  hast  taught  us  in  thy  holy 
word  that  thou  dost  not  willingly  afflict  or  grieve  the  children  of  men  : 

n  no  o  a  -I 


IV, 


look  with  pity,  we  beseech  thee,  upon  the  sorrows  of  thy  servants,  who,  irt 
the  midst  of  our  national  rejoicing,  have  been  called  to  mingle  the  bitter^ 
ness  of  tears  with  the  voice  of  thanksgiving.  In  thy  wisdom  thou  hast 
seen  fit  to  visit  them  with  trouble  and  to  bring  distress  upon  them.  Re- 
member them,  0  Lord  in  mercy;  pour  the  oil  of  consolation  into  thei 
wounded  spirits  ;  endue  their  souls  with  patience  under  their  affliction,  and 
with  resignation  to  thy  blessed  will ;  lift  up  thy  countenance  upon  them, 
and  give  them  peace,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord.     Amex. 

COLLECT  FOR  THE  DAY. 

Almighty  God,  who  hast  in  all  ages  shewed  forth  thy  power  and  mercy 
in  the  wonderful  preservation  of  thy  Church  and  in  the  protection  of  every 
nation  and  people  professing  thy  Holy  and  Eternal  Truth,  and  putting  their 
sure  trust  in  Thee  ;  we  yield  Thee  our  unfeigned  thanks  and  praise  for  all 
thy  public  mercies,  and  more,  especially  for  that  signal  and  wonderful 
manifestation  of  thy  Providence,  which  we  commemorate  this  day ;  where- 
fore, not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  Thy  name  be  ascribed  all 
honor  and  glory  from  generation  to  generation,  through  Jesus  Christ,  out 
Lord.     Amen. 

EPISTLE  FOR  THE  DAY; 

Phil.  ch.  4,  vs.  4.  to  9. 

GOSPEL    FOR  THE   DAY; 

St.  Johuj  VS.  8,  31  to  37. 

Given  under  my  hand  this  July  24th,  1861. 

STEPHEN  ELLIOTT, 
Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Georgia- 


fexoDus— Chap.  15,  vv.  1.  2. 

Then  sang  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  this  song  unto  the  Lord, 
and  spake,  saying,  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  glori- 
ously ;  the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea. 

The  Lord  is  my  strength  and  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation :  he 
is  my  God,  and  I  will  prepare  him  an  jjabitation  ;  my  Father's  God,  and 
I  will  exalt  him. 

No  words  could  express  more  entirely  our  feelings 
upon  this  day  of  National  Thanksgiving  for  an  almost 
unparalleled  victory,  than  these  opening  verses  of  the 
song  which  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  sang 
when  God  had  delivered  them  from  the  cruel  hands 
of  Pharaoh.  They  embody  all  the  ideas  which  are 
most  appropriate  to  an  occasion  like  this,  and  indicate 
all  the  acts  which  we  should  be  glad  to  perform  out 
of  gratitude  for  so  glorious  a  triumph.  They  place 
God  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture,  and  ascribe  all 
the  glory  to  him,  ''  I  will  sing  unto  the  Lord,  for 
He  hath  triumphed  gloriously  ;  the  horse  and  his  rider 
hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea."  They  arrange  in  proper 
order  our  past  and  our  present  relations  to  that  supreme 
Ruler  of  the  Universe,  "  The  Lord  is  my  strength 
and  song,  and  he  is  become  my  salvation."  They 
announce  the  willing  gratitude  of  hearts  overflowing 
with  thanksgiving  for  an  unspeakable  mercy,  "He 
is  my  God  and  I  will  prepare  him  an  habitation  ;  my 
father's,  God,  and  I  will  exalt  him ;  "  and  together 
they  form  the  key-note  of  the  song  of  exultation  which 


A    SERMON. 


was  poured  out  over  the  discomfited  Egyptians. 
And  these  words  are  signally  the  words  for  this  occa- 
sion, because  God  himself,  through  the  Spirit  which 
guides  the  Church,  placed  them  in  our  mouths  at  the 
very  moment  when  our  victorious  hosts  were  driving 
before  them  their  vanquished  enemies.  Sunday  last 
was  the  day  of  battle  and  of  victory,  and  from  all  the 
Episcopal  Churches  of  the  Confederate  States  were 
read — as  if  God  was  speaking  to  us  from  the  very  altar 
of  the  sanctuary  and  cheering  us  on  with  words  of 
prophecy — the  chapters  of  Exodus  which  contain  a 
detailed  account  of  the  preparations  of  the  haughty 
Pharaoh,  which  describe  the  hardening  of  his  heart 
as  shown  by  that  insolent  question,  ''Why  have  we 
done  this,  that  we  have  let  Israel  go  from  serving  us?" 
and  which  wind  up  with  this  magnificent  hymn  of  exult- 
ant praise,  which  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel 
sang,  and  which  Miriam  and  the  women  answered  with 
timbrels  and  with  dances.  At  the  very  moment  when 
these  chapters  were  reading  in  the  Churches  of  the 
living  God,  parallel  scenes  were  enacting  upon  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac,  and  God  was  singing  for  us, 
before  man  knew  the  result,  our  song  of  triumph  and 
of  praise.  It  is  the  crowning  token  of  his  love — the 
most  wonderful  of  all  the  manifestations  of  his  divine 
presence  with  us.  Let  us  repeat,  to-day,  with  our 
imperfect  echo,  God'ai*iE)wn  song  of  victory  and  thanks- 
giving. 

And  it  will  be  none  the  less  welcome,  my  beloved 
people,  because  it  is  interrupted  by  grief  and  broken 
by  tears.  Was  our  thanksgiving  one  of  unalloyed  joy, 
there  would  be  no  sacrifice  in  its  oblation,  and  it 
might  lack  the  faith  which,  in  God's  view,  alone  conse- 
crates any    offering.     The  most  sublime  thanksgiving 


A    SERMON. 


which  man  offers  to  God,  is  that  sacrifice  of  praise 
which  accompanies  in  the  Christian  Church,  the  com- 
memoration of  the  death  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  That  is  the  model  of  all  thanksgiving, 
and  it  is  red  with  the  blood  of  him  who  came  from 
Edom,  with  d3;ed  garments  from  Bozrah,  travelling  in 
the  greatness  of  his  strength,  and  it  has  been,  'for 
centuries,  bedewed  with  the  tears  of  repentance. 
And  so  with  the  sacrifice  of  praise  which  we  lay  to  day 
upon  the  altar  of  the  Church.  It  will  be  sanctified  by 
the  heavy  grief  which  weighs. upon  all  our  hearts,  and 
will  ascend  into  the  presence  of  God  consecrated  by 
the  tears  which  have  been  wrung  from  the  souls  of 
sisters  sorrowing  for  the  loved  companions  of  their 
youth,  of  wives  mourning  over  the  desolation  of  their 
homes,  of  parents  refusing  to  be  comforted  because 
they  have  been  bereaved  of  their  children.  In  our 
deep  sorrow  we  kiss  the  rod,  and  humbly  receive  his 
mercies  as  he  thinks  best  to  dispense  them.  It  is  the 
sorest  trial  of  the  heart  when  it  is  asked  for  its  first 
born,  and  the  most  vivid  imagination  of  the  prophet 
could  conceive  no  stronger  picture  of  a  nation's  sacri- 
fice than  that  her  young  men  were  dead  in  her  streets. 
Thanksgiving  and  grief  are  not  incongruous,  for  all  the 
highest  gratitude  of  man  is  associated  with  him  who 
was  the  man  of  sorrows  and  accjuaiuted  with  grief, 
and  is  devoloped  through  acts  of  repentance  and  hu- 
miliation which  demand  from  us  the  streaming  eye 
and  the  smitten  heart. 

A  little  more  than  a  month  since,  and  the  people  of 
the  Confederate  States  humbled  themselves  before 
God  and  mingled  together,  as  became  a  nation  who 
had  received  mercies  which  were  altogether  unde- 
served,   thanksgivinsr   and    humiliation.       We   then 


8  A  SERMON. 


prayed,  as  a  nation,  that  God  would  accept  our  con- 
fessions, would  hear  our  supplications,  and  would 
continue  towards  us  His  merciful  favor  and  protection. 
We  truly  believed  that  our  cause  was  his  cause ;  that 
we  were  defending  a  condition  of  society  which  He 
had  established  as  one  of  the  links  in  the  chain  of  his 
Providence,  and  that  we  should  be  successful^  not 
because  of  any  merits  or  righteousness  of  our  own — for 
God  knows  that  we  have  sins  enough  to  bring  upon 
us  any  chastisement — but  because  we  were  instruments 
in  his  hands  for  the  fulfilment  of  an  important  part 
of  the  economy  of  His  grace.  We  maintained  that 
this  conflict  was  not  one  of  the  ordinary  and  ever 
recurring  struggles  for  independence,  but  that  it  wore 
many  of  the  features  of  a  sacred  war,  involving  in  its 
issues  not  human  rights  only,  but  sound  religion,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  truth  in  philosophy,  in  morals 
and  in  government.  It  had  been  forced  upon  us  most 
unwillingly  and  we  had  been  compelled  to  break  many 
long  cherished  associations  and  to  crush  many  of  our 
noblest  feelings,  ere  we  would  engage  in  it.  As  it 
went  on,  we  had  perceived,  more  and  more  clearly, 
its  necessity  and  its  righteousness,  and  such  wonderful 
manifestations  of  God's  presence  with  us  had  ac- 
companied it,  that  we  felt  satisfied  he  was  acting  as  our 
counsellor  and  leader.  If  any  doubt  remained  upon 
the  mind  of  any  man — if  any  faithlessness  still  lingered 
around  the  heart  and  the  spirit — God  has  now  so  sig- 
nally displayed  himself  to  our  wondering  eyes,  that  the 
pillar  of  cloud  by  day  and  of  fire  by  night  was  not 
more  plain  to  the  children  of  Israel.  Putting  man 
altogether  aside,  truly  may  we  sing  to-day  the  song  of 
Moses — "He  hath  triumphed  gloriously;  the  horse 
and  his  rider  hath  He  thrown  into  the  sea.  " 


A  SERMON. 


The  more  in  detail  that  we  receive  the  accounts  of 
this  victory ;  the  more  that  the  smoke  clears  away 
from  the  scene  of  slaughter  and  of  triumph,  the  more 
clearly  do  we  perceive  that  this  is  God's  victory. 
There  are  circumstances  connected  with  it  which  mark 
His  immediate  interposition  and  which  indicate  a 
spiritual  meaning  too  plain  to  be  misunderstood. 
God  has  a  purpose  in  every  thing  he  does  and  He 
permits  his  children,  when  the  event  is  over,  when 
the  blow  has  fallen,  to  read  that  purpose  and  to  learn 
from  it  lessons  which  shall  discipline  the  heart  and 
regulate  the  conduct.  Man  learns  but  little  so  long  as 
he  is  rushing  forward  in  the  pursuit  of  objects  which 
fill  his  eye  and  absorb  his  soul.  It  is  only  when  some 
great  stroke  has  descended  upon  him  from  God's  hand, 
that  he  is  sufficiently  sobered  to  consider  his  ways 
and  to  understand  the  dealings  of  the  Lord.  Such  a 
stroke  has  come,  like  a  bolt  from  Heaven,  from  the 
hand  of  the  Almighty,  filling  the  one  army  and  the 
one  nation  with  defeat  and  humiliation,  and  the  other 
army  and  the  other  nation  with  sorrow  and  lamenta- 
tion. He  has  smitten  our  enemies  in  their  most  tender 
and  sensitive  point,  their  invincible  power,  and  he  has 
taken  from  us  the  pride  of  our  victory  by  giving  it  to 
us  wrapped  up  in  the  funeral  shroud  of  the  brave  and 
of  the  young. 

For  three  long  and  weary  months  had  the  North 
been  gathering  and  marshalling  its  hosts  for  our  defeat 
and  subjugation.  The  most  experienced  warrior  of 
our  land  had  been  engaged,  night  and  day,  in  organi- 
zing an  army  which  should  ensure  victory  and  which 
should  make  a  triumphant  and  uninterrupted  march 
over  the,  ruins  of  our  social  life.  The  most  veteran 
troops  which  our  late  army  afforded  were  collected 


10  A  SERMOK. 


from  distant  fortresses,  and  all  our  historical  and  far- 
famed  batteries  were  concentrated  under  officers  who 
had  given  them  their  names  upon  hard  fought  fields 
and  amid  the  blood  and  dust  of  terrific  conflicts, 
Evf^ry  appliance  which  mechanical  ingenuity  could 
suggest  and  which  a  lavish  expenditure  could  supply, 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  the  perfection  of  this  arma- 
ment. Regiments  picked  from  every  State ;  foreign 
troops  who  had  seen  every  kind  of  European  and  even 
Asiatic  warfare ;  volunteers  selected  from  the  hardy, 
enduring,  active  mechanics  of  our  large  cities,  were 
brought  together  and  clustered  around  the  veterans  of 
the  army,  so  that  they  might  receive  from  them,  as 
quickly  as  possible,  the  discipline  and  steadiness  which 
they  needed  for  operations  in  the  field.  The  whole 
North  resounded  with  the  preparation  of  this  mighty 
host,  and  Europe  was  bid  to  suspend  her  judgment 
and  her  action  until  this  army  should  make  its  forward 
movement,  and  see  whether  there  would  be  any  further 
need  for  her  anxiety  and  her  intervention.  The  news- 
papers from  Washington  to  Maine  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  Minnesota  on  the  other,  held,  with  one  or  two 
honorable  exceptions,  one  unchanging  tone  of  exulta- 
tion, boasting  of  the  power,  the  strength  and  the 
invincibility  of  the  North,  and  saying,  in  the  very 
language  of  Pharoah :  "  We  will  pursue,  we  will  over- 
take, we  will  divide  the  spoil;  our  hands  shall  destroy 
them.  "  Not  a  word  about  God  and  His  justice  and 
power  that  we  could  hear ;  not  a  moment's  distrust  of 
themselves  and  reliance  upon  God!  When  their 
Churches  were  entered,  it  was  to  desecrate  their  altars 
with  star-spangled  banners,  and  to  spread  over  the 
very  communion  table,  the  symbol,  not  of  Christ's 
sacrifice,  but  of  their  national  pride.     When  the  pul- 


A  SERMON.  11 


pits  spoke,  they  spoke   not  the  words  of  humiliation 
and  of  peace,  but  the  war-cry  of  destruction   issued 
from  them,  as  if  madness  had  taken  hold  of  this  chris- 
tian people.     All  this  stimulated  the  government  at 
Washington    and    swelled   the   pride   of  the    great 
chieftain  who  had  never    known    defeat  and   whom 
Wellington  had  called  the  greatest  Captain  of  the  age. 
His  reputation  gave  him  power  to  hold  that  host  in  hand 
until  his  preparations  had  been  fully  made,  so  that  he 
chose  his  time  and  his  occasion  for  the  commencement 
of  his  long  announced  campaign    And  they  were  well 
chosen  to  give  his  movements  their  very  best  effect. 
He    waited    until    the   meeting    of    the    Northern 
Congress  had  called  together  at  Washington  all  the 
great  leaders  of  his  party  ;  until  he  could  have  the 
most  illustrious  eyes  of  his  chosen  people  fastened  upon 
his   every    movement ;  until    expectation   had   been 
excited  to  its  utmost  stretch,  and  the  nation  was  stand- 
ing upon  tip-toe  to  witness  his  strategetical  skill  and 
his  successive  triumphs.     When  these  dramatic  effects 
had  been  all  arranged,  and  in  the  very  midst  of  the 
exultation  which  had  been  occasioned  by  the  victory 
at  Laurel  hill,  the  order  was  issued  to  advance  upon 
the  rebel  crew  which  pretended  to  impede  the  way  of 
the  imperial  march  to  Richmond.     And  great  was  the 
parade  of  that  movement!     Division   after   division 
was  poured  out  of  Washington  with  all  the  pomp  and 
circumstance  of  war.     Every  thing  was  accumulated 
to  produce  a  brilliant  and  an  imposing  array.  Flauntmg 
banners,  exultant  music,  of&cers  surrounded  by  bril- 
liant staffs,  dashing  columns  of  cavalry,  heavy  masses 
of  infantry,  parks  of  artillery  of  unrivalled  fame,  all 
inspired  an  assurance  of  victory  which  knew  no  doubt 
and  would   conceive  of  no  defeat.     The   loyal  city 


12  A  SERMON. 


turned  out  "en  masse"  to  witness  this  unusual  display 
and  to  cheer  on   the  army  to  triumph  and  to  glory. 
Grave  senators   accompanied   these   gallant  warriors 
upon  their  first  day's  march  and  returned  to  dream 
only  of  victory  and  of  conquest.     Even  women  forgat 
their   delicacy  and  went  forth  to  witness  what  they 
were  told  wo.dd  be  another  battle  of  the  spurs.     And 
when   the  sun  went   down  upon  that   haughty  host, 
there  was  probably  not  a  single  man  in  that  immense 
army,    who  did  not  anticipate  a  complete  and  easy 
triumph.     And  well  might  they  have  done  it,  for  they 
were    marching  with   picked  veterans  upon    untried 
soldiers ;   with  vastly  superior  numbers  of  well  armed 
troops  upon  youths  who  had  never  seen  a  battle-field 
and  who  had  picked  up  their  weapons  here  and  there 
as  they  could  soonest  find  them  ;  with  batteries  of  the 
most  efficient  light  and  heavy  artillery,  upon  troops 
whose  experience   had  been  confined   to  a  holiday 
parade  in  the  streets  and  squares  of  a  city.      What  was 
to   hinder   a  complete   and    decisive  victory  ?     Is  it 
possible  that  those  beardless  boys  can  stand  the  well 
directed  fire  of  those  terrific  batteries,  which  have  so 
often  scattered,  under  like  circumstances,  the  veterans 
of  other  armies?     Is  it  within  the  bounds  of  proba- 
bility that  those  young  men,  trained  up  in  the  lap  of 
luxury  and  known  at  home,  many  of  them,  only  as  the 
idlers  of  fashion,  can  turn  back,  even  with  their  un- 
doubted valour,  the  onset  of  those  stalwart  men,  who, 
having  labored  all  their  days  with  the  hammer  and  the 
axe  and  every  tool  of  iron,  amid  furnaces  and  forges, 
have  made  their  muscles  like  brass  and  their  sinews  as 
cords  of  steel  ?     Can  it  be  that  those  backwoodsmen, 
who  have  rushed  so  gallantly  to  the  war  with   no 
preparation  save  the  few  weeks  drilling  of  a  disorderly 


A  SERMON. 


camp,  can  roll  the  tide  of  battle  back  upon  that  haughty 
host  whose  movements  were  but  yesterday  the  admi- 
ration of  the  Capital,  satisfying  even  the  critical  eye 
of  Scott  ?  'Tis  true  those  boys  and  youths  and 
countrymen  are  led  by  the  flower  of  the  old  army,  who 
had  disdainfully  cast  aside  the  trappings  of  a  govern- 
ment which  was  calling  upon  them  to  subjugate  their 
countrymen  and  overthrow  the  constitution  of  their 
country;  'tis  true  that  they  are  inspired  by  a  holy  de- 
termination to  die  upon  their  ground  or  else  march  on 
to  victory  ;  'tis  true,  as  Pericles  said  of  the  Athenians, 
"  they  place  not  so  great  a  confidence  in  the  prepa- 
ratives and  artifices  of  war  as  in  the  native  warmth  of 
their  souls  impelling  them  to  action"  ;  'tis  true,  above 
all,  that  a  nation's  prayers  are  with  them  in  the  battle 
instead  of  a  nation's  boastings,  but  nevertheless  the 
odds  are  fearful,  and  even  the  most  confident  tremble 
as  the  armies  meet  in  deadly  conflict.  The  eyes  of 
two  nations  are  on  them  and  the  hearts  of  two  people 
are  throbbing  responsive  to  every  stroke.  From 
morning  until  evening  that  dreadful  battle  raged,  and 
all  we  yet  know  is,  that  our  brave  boys  have  made, 
upon  the  fatal  field  of  Manassas,  the  name  of  Ogle- 
thorpe still  more  immortal ;  that  our  statesman  hero 
has  illustrated  for  all  time  his  own  beloved  Georgia; 
that  victory  has  perched  upon  our  banners,  and  that 
defeat,  shameful,  overwhelming,  almost  inexplicable, 
has  humbled  to  the  dust  the  insolent  myrmidons  of 
a  despotic  democracy.  God  was  evidently  there, 
strengthening  the  hearts  of  our  struggling  soldiers  and 
bringing  the  haughty  down  to  the  dust.  Could  the 
eyes  of  our  fainting,  dying  children,  have  been  opened 
that  day  to  see  spiritual  things,  I  feel  sure  that  they 
would  have  seen  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  riding 


14  A  SERMON. 


upon  the  storm  of  battle,  and  making  those  that  were 
for  them,  more  than  those  that  were  against  them. 
^'Not  unto  us,  0  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name 
give  glory,  for  thy  mercy  and  for  thy  truth  sake.  " 

It  is  but  seldom,  in  the  annals  of  war,  that  so  signal 
a  victory  has  been  granted  to  the  arm  of  valor  and  the 
prayer  of  faith.  We  should  have  been  satisfied  with 
even  a  doubtful  field ;  more  than  satisfied  with  a  de- 
cided repulse.  How  loud  then  should  be  our  thanks- 
giving, how  deep  our  gratitude,  when  God  has  granted 
us  a  triumph  which  must  resound  through  the  civilized 
world,  and  give  us  a  name  at  once  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth  ;  when  he  has  permitted  us  totally  to  de- 
moralize that  insolent  army  ;  to  drive  them  back  in 
shame  and  confusion  of  face  upon  their  strongholds, 
to  strip  them  of  their  batteries  which  they  boasted  to 
be  invincible,  to  despoil  them  of  all  the  stores  which 
they  had  been  so  painfully  gathering  for  so  long  a  time 
^ — to  snatch  from  them  the  prestige  of  power  which 
their  partizan  writers  had  given  them  abroad.  And 
this  victory  has  been  given  to  us  by  God  just  at  the 
moment  when  it  was  most  important  to  us.  There 
are  circumstances  in  all  conflicts  which  make  certain 
battles  decisive,  decisive  not  because  they  end  the 
struggle,  but  decisive  because  of  the  effects  produced 
upon  the  human  mind.  Man,  with  all  his  greatness,  is 
very  infirm  in  his  judgments  and  is  apt  to  measure  a 
cause  more  by  its  success  than  by  its  principles.  The 
one  requires  to  be  examined  and  decided  about,  the 
other  is  a  thing  of  sight  and  sense  ;  the  one  is  modi- 
fied by  our  feelings  and  prejudices,  the  other  carries 
man  by  storm.  Besides,  it  is  hard  to  separate  success 
from  God's  favor,  and  the  superstitious  mind — and  by 
far  the  larger  part  of  the  world  is  superstitious  instead 


A  SERMON.  1; 


of  religious — almost  invariably  connects  the  finger  of 
tlie  Almighty  with  man's  triumphs.  Such  effects  it 
was  most  important  should  be  produced  at  this  crisis 
of  our  affairs.  Hitherto  our  successes  had  been  as- 
cribed to  numbers,  as  at  Sumter — to  treachery,  as  in 
Texas — to  the  inexperience  of  ofiicers,  as  at  Bethel. 
In  this  fight  we  were  acknowledged  to  be  inferior, 
both  in  numbers  and  in  arms.  The  enemy  was  led  by 
officers  of  high  reputation,  under  the  experienced  eye 
of  the  great  Captain  himself,  and  there  was  no  room 
for  any  other  fraud  than  such  as  stands  connected  with 
the  legitimate  stratagems  of  war.  The  eye  of  the 
civilized  world  was  upon  this  battle — of  statesmen,  to 
understand  how  to  conduct  their  negotiations — of 
bankers,  how  to  regulate  their  loans — of  merchants,  in 
what  channels  to  float  their  commerce — of  timid  and 
doubting  men,  how  to  decide  their  politics.  Much 
depended  upon  it  for  ourselves.  For  strange  to  say, 
imperceptibly  to  ourselves,  our  confidence  in  ourselves 
had  been  seriously  impaired  by  the  imbecile  depend- 
ence upon  the  North  for  all  the  material  comforts  of 
life  into  which  we  had  permitted  ourselves  to  fall. 
Even  while  we  were  guiding  the  Union  by  our  states- 
manship and  illusti'ating  it  by  our  valor — even  while 
we  were  giving  it  its  Presidents,  its  Generals,  its  Ad- 
mirals— even  while  we  were  furnishing  it  by  our  well- 
directed  and  well-managed  labor  with  its  great  staples 
of  exchange,  we  were  permitting  the  North  to  take  all 
the  credit  of  advancement  to  itself,  to  absorb,  into  its 
great  centres  of  commerce,  wealth,  literature,  science, 
fashion,  and  to  call  it  all  its  own,  no  matter  whence  it 
came  or  whose  brain  or  pocket  produced  it,  and  to 
persuade  even  ourselves  that  we  were  a  helpless  race, 
who  were  dependent  upon  it  for  all  we  were  and  all  we 


16  A  SERMON. 


might  hope  to  be.  They  provided  the  historians,  and 
so  the  battle-fields  of  the  North  were  the  only  ones 
which  were  known  to  the  world ;  they  did  all  the  criti- 
cism, and  so  the  science  and  the  literature  of  the  South 
were  buried  under  the  mass  of  charlatans  and  poetas- 
ters and  scribblers  who  claimed  to  be  heard  because 
of  their  birth-place, and  who  were  willing  to  buy  a  fame 
which  they  could  not  otherwise  procure  ;  they  fur- 
nished Europe  with  all  her  information  of  our  affairs, 
and  so  we  were  as  much  unknown  as  if  we  had  been 
mere  dependencies,  or  if  known,  known  only  as  un- 
civilized frontiersmen  who  were  hewing  down  the 
forests  and  preparing  the  way  for  the  educated 
North  to  come  in  and  refine  us.  All  the  sins  of  the 
nation  were  heaped  upon  us ;  we  were  the  pirates, 
the  slave-traders,  the  filibusters,  the  repudiators,  the 
demagogues.  All  the  vulgar  bullying  of  the  European 
powers  which  has  been  disgracing  our  country  for  the 
last  thirty  years,  was  laid — the  bastard  bantling — at 
our  doors,  and  not  only  Europe  and  the  North,  but  we 
ourselves,  were  getting  fast  to  be  persuaded  that  there 
was  no  wisdom,  no  learning,  no  virtue,  no  power  in 
the  South.  In  this  battle,  then,  we  were  upon  trial; 
trial  not  only  by  the  world,  but  trial  by  and  for 
ourselves.  A  defeat  would  have  riveted  upon  us  all 
this  false  opinion  and  false  character,  and  it  would  have 
required  many  fields  of  blood  to  break  the  chains  of 
prejudice  and  calumny,and  would  have  produced  upon 
ourselves  an  effect  which  might  have  hung,  for  long 
years,  as  a  crushing  weight  upon  all  our  efforts.  Honor 
then  to  the  noble  spirits  who  have  achieved  this 
victory  for  us !  Others  may  die  upon  the  battle-field, 
but  none  can  die  so  gloriously  as  they  !  Others  may 
rise  up  and  be  baptized  for  the   dead,  but  none  can 


A  SERMON.  17 


ever  supplant  her  first  martyrs  in  the  admiration  of 
their  countrymen.  Whatever  illustrious  deeds  may 
be  done  in  the  future — whatever  glorious  victories 
may  inspire  hereafter  new  songs  of  thanksgiving  and 
of  r  aise,  none  can  ever  eclipse  the  fame  of  these  deeds 
and  of  this  victory.  They  will  ever  be  the  first  who  cast 
themselves  before  the  insulted  form  of  their  mother 
and  received  in  their  young  hearts  the  wounds  that 
were  intended  for  her ;  they  will  ever  be  the  first  who 
gave  their  blood  to  wash  out  before  the  world  the 
stains  that  had  been  slanderously  cast  upon  her  honor 
and  her  virtue :  they  will  ever  be  the  first  who  have 
offered  up  upon  the  altar  of  justice  and  of  truth,  a 
hecatomb  of  victims  to  soothe  her  insulted  spirit.  Boys 
many  of  them  were  in  years,  but  lions  in  heart !  They 
have  died  young,  but  they  have  lived  long  enough  to 
gain  an  enviable  place  in  history,  to  entwine  their  names 
with  the  independence  and  glory  of  the  South.  But, 
above  all,  honor  to  the  noble  spirit  who  led  them  to 
the  battle-field  ;  who,  having  taught  them  by  his  vir- 
tue, his  integrity,  his  unspotted  character,  how  to  live, 
was  now  about  to  teach  them  how  to  die!  Before  he 
left  his  home,  he  wrapped  the  Confederate  flag  around 
him  and  said  that  it  should  be  his  winding  sheet,  and 
all  through  that  bloody  day  he  courted  the  fulfilment 
of  his  prophecy.  Wherever  the  storm  of  war  was 
fiercest,  there  was  he;  wherever  death  was  busiest 
in  his  bloody  work,  there  raged  he,  the  very  imperso- 
nation of  a  hero.  Even  that  cruel  tyrant  seemed  loth 
to  take  away  so  grand  a  soul,  and  it  was  not  until 
victory  was  about  to  perch  upon  his  crest  and  snatch 
him  from  his  grasp,  that  he  struck  the  fatal  blow ! 
And  when  his  gallant  boys  surrounded  him,  even  while 
his  tongue  was  faltering  in  death,  he  uttered  words  that 


18  A  SERMON. 


will  be  as  memorable  as  the  battle-field — '^  /  am  killed, 
hut  dovbt  give  ujp  the  fight.  "  Like  Nelson,  he  died  in 
the  very  arms  of  victory,  and  his  blood,  like  the 
dragon's  teeth  which  were  sowa  by  Cadmus,  sprang 
up  armed  men  who  hurled  back  the  cruel  invaders ! 
Mourn  for  such  a  life  and  such  a  death  as  his  was ! 
We  cannot  mourn,  and  even  his  widowed  mother 
should  say  with  the  noble  Ormond,  "  I  would  rather 
have  my  dead  son,  than  any  living  son  in  Christen- 
dom. " 

The  effects  of  this  victory  will  be,  for  the  presents 
more  moral  than  material.  For  the  moment,  it  will 
only  exasperate  the  North  and  spur  the  leaders  on  from 
wounded  vanity  to  redouble  their  exertions.  But  it 
will  be  as  a  leaven  working  among  the  people,  and 
teaching  them,  slowly  but  surely,  how  hopeless  is  the 
task  of  subjugation  which  they  have  taken  in  hand» 
When  the  first  excitement  is  over,  and  the  shrewd 
citizens  of  the  North  begin  to  look  to  the  end  of  all 
this,  and  to  see  before  them  inevitable  failure,  they 
will  take  the  matter  into  their  own  hands  and  call  to 
a  terrible  account  all  who  have  deceived  them  and  led 
them  into  their  present  distress.  So  long  as  they 
were  made  to  believe  that  their  armies  could  rapidly 
overrun  the  South  and  bring  back  to  their  allegiance 
their  most  profitable  customers,  they  were  ready  and 
willing  to  hale  on  the  war,  but  when  they  shall  dis- 
cover that  all  their  efforts  must  be  unavailing,  that  an 
enormous  debt  will  have  to  be  incurred  which  they 
themselves  must  pay,  that  there  is  no  hope  of  succor 
from  any  of  the  sources  whence  they  anticipated  help, 
and  that  nothing  is  before  them  but  a  series  of  bloody 
fields  to  end  in  discomfiture  and  disgrace,  then  may 
we  look  for  a  change  of  counsels  and  the  rainbow  of 


A  SERMON.  19 


peace.  This  victory  is  the  first  step  towards  such  a 
result,  and  through  its  blood  and  carnage  may  we  see 
a  glimmering  of  hope  for  returning  reason  among 
those  who  have  suiFered  themselves  to  be  deluded  into 
the  belief  that  the  South  would  fall  an  easy  prey  into 
their  hands.  In  Europe  its  effect  will  be  more  deci- 
ded, and  it  will  give  a  shock  to  Northern  interests  in 
that  quarter  from  which  they  will  find  it  hard  to  re- 
cover. It  may  not  lead  to  the  immediate  acknowledg- 
ment of  our  independence — European  governments 
are  not  hasty  in  their  action,because  what  they  do  they 
intend  to  adhere  to  and  carry  out — but  it  will  give  us 
a  status  abroad  which  will  be  of  immeasurable  advan- 
tage to  the  r!onfederate  States.  Monarchies  and  Em- 
pires do  not  understand  trifling,  but  when  such  a  blow 
as  this  is  struck,  it  at  once  commands  attention  and 
wins  respect.  However  much  our  enemies  may  desire 
to  conceal  the  severity  of  this  blow,  and  however  much 
we  may  fear  that  justice  will  not  be  done  us  abroad, 
both  parties  may  rest  assured  that  the  Ministers  and 
Consuls  of  foreign  governments  will  keep  their  states- 
men accurately  informed  of  every  movement  in  this 
important  game.  The  commercial  interests  at  stake  are 
too  enormous  to  be  trifled  with,  and  every  honorable  ef- 
fort will  be  used  by  both  England  and  France  to  throw 
their  weight  into  the  scale  of  commercial  freedom. 
And  nothing  will  give  such  power  to  their  movements 
or  such  strength  to  their  reasoning  as  blows  upon  our 
enemy  like    that  just  dealt  at  Manassas. 

Its  effect  upon  ourselves  is  what  I  most  fear.  If  we 
continue  humble  and  give  the  glory  to  God, we  shall  go 
on  from  victory  to  victory,  until  our  independence  shall 
be  acknowledged  and  our  homes  be  left  to  us  in  peace. 
But  if  we  suff'er  ourselves  to  be  elated  and  to  ascribe 


20  A  SERMON. 


our  success  to  ourselves — if  our  heart  be  lifted  up  and 
we  forget  the  Lord  our  God  and  say  in  our  heart, 
'VMy  power  and  the  might  of  mine  hand  hath  gotten 
me  this  victory,  "  then  shall  our  peril  be  imminent, 
for  the  Lord  hateth  the  proud  and  smiteth  those  who 
would  rob  him  of  his  glory.  This  victory  is,  we  firmly 
believe,  an  answer  to  prayer,  and  while  we  would  de- 
tract nothing  from  the  skill  of  our  leaders  or  the  bravery 
of  our  troops,  which  are  the  secondary  causes  of 
success,  vf e  can  yet  see  enough  in  its  circumstances  to 
satisfy  us  of  the  presence  of  God.  Let  us  not  lose  this 
vast  advantage,  but  crushing  the  pride  of  human 
nature,  let  us  lay  all  the  glory  at  the  feet  of  Jesus  and 
acknowledge  him  to  be  our  Saviour  and  mighty  de 
liverer. 

The  triumphant  song  of  Moses  was  accompanied  by 
a  determination  to  show  forth  his  gratitude  to  God  by 
a  thank-offering.  The  Lord  had  always  been  the 
strength  and  the  song  of  the  children  of  Israel,  but 
now  he  had  become  their  salvation.  He  had  bared 
his  mighty  arm  in  the  face  of  the  nations  and  had  de- 
livered them  from  bondage  and  from  destruction. 
This  was  a  new  relationship  which  had  been  estab- 
lished between  them,  and  he  determined  to  acknowl- 
edge it  by  preparing  an  habitation  for  God.  ''  The 
Lord  is  my  strength  and  my  song  and  he  is  become  my 
salvation:  he  is  my  God  and  I  will  prepare  him  an 
habitation ;  my  Father's  God  and  I  will  exalt  him.  " 
Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel  were  not  satisfied  with 
an  empty-handed  thanksgiving.  They  were  deter- 
mined that  God  should  perceive  that  they  valued  His 
protection  and  truly  rejoiced  in  His  presence  and  their 
earliest  resolution  was  to  keep  him  with  them  by  build- 
ing an  habitation  for  him  in  the  midst  of  them.    They 


A  SERMON.  21 


courted  His  presence.  They  did  every  thing  they 
could  do  to  keep  Him  near  to  them  in  the  national 
struggle  which  had  been  ushered  in  by  the  glorious 
victory  over  Pharoah.  Tlieirs  was  not  a  day  of  thanks- 
giving and  then  a  cold  dismissal  of  their  God  until 
such  time  as  they  should  need  his  services  again,  but 
they  determined,  in  the  exhuberance  of  their  joy,  to 
make  it  a  thanksgiving  forever ;  to  bring  God  into 
their  camp  and  keep  him  there  forever.  What  an  ally ! 
the  Lord  of  Lord  and  King  of  Kings!  He  who-  hold- 
eth  in  his  hands  the  hearts  of  all  men!  He  who  can 
ride  upon  the  whirlwind  and  direct  the  stormi  He 
who  can  send  forth  hosts  innumerable,  horses  and 
chariots  of  fire  to  do  his  bidding!  He  who  _^can  give 
courage  to  the  fainting  spirit  and  strike  fear  into  the 
man  of  war  !  He  who  can  distract  the  counsels  of  the 
wise  and  bring  to  naught  the  experience  of  the  aged! 
How  would  our  hearts  leap  with  joy  should  we  hear 
that  the  banner  of  St.  George  or  the  blood-stained  tri- 
color of  France  had  been  unfurled  and  was  preparing 
to  wave,  in  alliance  with  ours,  above  our  battle-fields! 
What  an  assurance  of  success  would  it  give  us ! 
What  a  triumphant  march  to  victory  would  it  seem 
to  shape  out  before  us !  And  shall  we  not  endeavor 
to  keep  on  our  side  an  ally  as  much  greater  than 
these,  as  the  Lord  is  greater  than  his  servant  ?  Look 
all  the  way  back  through  our  young  history — for 
although  young,  it  has  been  full  of  marvellous  incidents 
— and  see  how  His  power  has  shielded  us,  his  wisdom 
directed  us.  His  spirit  harmonized  us,  His  sword 
smitten  our  enemies.  To  preserve  the  favor  of  such 
an  ally  we  should  prepare,  not  one,  but  a  thousand 
habitations,  if  necessary;  we  should  exalt  Him,  we 
should  glorify  Him,  we  should  magnify  His  glorious 


22  A  SERMON. 


name !     Honor  should   be   done    to  him  daily ;  the 
song  of  praise  and  thanksgiving   should  be  forever 
sounded  before  him.     Man  should  lead  the  chorus  of 
rejoicing,   "■  I   will    sing   unto    the  Lord,  for  he  hath 
triumphed  gloriously ;  the   horse  and  his  rider  hath 
he  thrown  into  the  sea,"  and  woman  should  echo  back 
the  song  of  triumph  with  timbrels  and  with  dances 
"Sing  ye  to  the  Lord,  for  he  hath  triumphed  gloriously ; 
the  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea." 
The  Church  of  Christ,  my  beloved  hearers,  is  his 
habitation  upon  earth,  and  we  call  upon  you  this  day 
to  prepare  it  for  the  presence  of  the  Lord.     It  is  al- 
ways your  duty  and  now  it   should  be   your  delight. 
In  this  crisis  of  our  national  history,  there  is  no  ele- 
ment of  society  which  is  so  important  as  the  Church. 
It  wields  the  most  powerful  instruments  for  good  or 
for  evil  at  a  moment  like  this.     It  carries  the  prayers 
of  the  people  to  the  mercy  seat  of  Christ,  and  brings 
back  blessings  upon   its  wings — it   guides  the  senti- 
ments of  the  people  in  the   channels  of  duty  and  of 
devotion — it  works  upon  conscience,  upon  heart,  upon 
spirit — it  sends  the  soldier  to  the   battle  inspired  with 
more  than  animal  courage,  and  it  ministers  comfort  to 
those  who  remain  behind  to  endure  the  terrible  anxie- 
ty of  suspense,  and  to  bear  the  misery   of  the  heart's 
desolation.     Prepare,    then,  habitations   for  the  Lord 
that  he  may  be  induced  to  dwell  among  us ;  give  him, 
for  your  own  and  for  your  country's  sake,  a  glorious 
and   exulting   welcome.     Exalt  him,  whose  is    "  the 
earth  and  all  that  therein  is,  the  compass  of  the  world 
and  they  that  dwell  therein."     Say  unto  your  homes, 
unto  your  temples,  unto  your  hearts.     "Lift  up  your 
heads,  0  ye  Gates ;  and  be  ye  lift  up,  ye  everlasting 
doors,  and  the  King  of  Glory  shall  come  in." 


Since  this  Sermon  was  written,  the  body  servant  of  Colonel  Bartow 
has  returned  and  has  delivered  to  his  family  the  Prayer  Book  which  had 
belonged  to  his  Father,  and  which,  although  quite  a  large  one,  he  had 
carried  with  him  through  the  campaign.  It  was  marked  at  the  Collect  for 
the  Sunday  after  Ascension,  which  he  was  using  when  summoned  to  the 
battle-field.  I  subjoin  the  Collect,  as  indicative  of  the  feeling  with  which 
he  went  into  the  conflict  : 

'•0  God,  the  King  of  Glory,  who  hast  exalted  thine  only  son  Jesus 
Christ  with  great  triumph  unto  thy  kingdom  in  Heaven  :  We  beseech  thee^ 
leave  us  not  comfortless  ;  but  send  to  us  thine  Holy  Ghost  to  comfort  us 
and  to  exalt  us  unto  the  same  place  whither  our  Saviour  Christ  is  gone 
before,  who  liveth  and  reigneth  with  thee  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  one  God 
world  without  end.     Amen.'' 


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